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No. 22 Oregon Sails By Eastern Washington 100-74

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - Oregon's defense didn't get a chance to test itself against one of the premier scorers in the nation, but the way the 22nd-ranked Ducks played on offense, it's hard to imagine it would have made much of a difference.

Bryce Taylor scored 24 points to lead four other Ducks in double figures in Oregon's 100-74 victory over Eastern Washington on Friday night.

The win in the schools' first meeting keeps the Ducks undefeated at 9-0 and off to their best start since winning the first 10 games of the 1996-97 season.

Taylor, who scored a season high, was 8-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. Malik Hairston also scored a season-high with 20, Aaron Brooks added 16 points, and Tajuan Porter and Maarty Leunen had 10 apiece.

The Eagles (5-6), attempting to defeat a ranked opponent for the second time in school history, lost star sophomore guard Rodney Stuckey to back spasms with 15:47 left in the first half. Stuckey, the nation's third leading scorer entering the week with a 26.7-point average, finished with two points, shooting 1-for-5 from the field.

'He's a great player,' Hairston said. 'When he went out it was almost harder because we had to focus on a lot of other guys.'

Friday's performance, coupled with what had been a career-low 12 points against Santa Clara on Dec. 11, dropped Stuckey's average to 23.1 points.

'(His back) started tightening up on him during pregame warmups and we tried to stretch it and tried to give it a go, but it just wasn't going to work so we got him out of there,' Eastern coach Mike Burns said. 'We'll go back home and try and get it healed up as fast as we can.'

The Eagles trailed 14-9 when Stuckey left, but twice pulled within a point. The last time came with 7:43 left in the half when Butorac hit a jumper to cut Oregon's lead to 32-31.

The Ducks answered with seven straight points, including a 3-pointer and layup by Taylor to go up 39-31. They led 46-37 at halftime.

Oregon padded its lead with a 13-2 run start to the second half, sparked by seven points from Porter, and the Ducks were up 59-39 at the 15:56 mark.

The Eagles went inside to score on five of their next six possessions to get within 61-50 with 12:48 to play, but Oregon answered with an 8-0 run to end any thoughts of a comeback.

The Ducks shot almost 60 percent from the field, making 37-of-62 shots and 8-of-17 3-pointers. The Eagles, who were fourth in the nation at 90.3 points per game, shot 46 percent from the field, but were held 16 points below their average.

'We had two teams out there that like to run and gun,' Brooks said. 'It was like practicing against ourselves.'